Cold fails to dampen R-Day spirit
Shimla, January 27
Despite extreme cold conditions with the mercury hovering near the freezing point the 59th Republic Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the state.

Policemen display their balancing skills during the R-Day celebrations on The Ridge at Shimla on Saturday; and (right) students present a dance performance.
—Tribune photos by S.Chandan

No respite from cold
Shimla, January 27
Despite the weather clearing up across the state, there was no respite from the severe cold wave today.
The minimum temperature in most parts of the state remained well below.

A road went all white after fresh snow in Shimla on Saturday evening.
— A Tribune photograph

Vaknaghat residents pin hopes on govt
Solan, January 27
The decision of the newly formed BJP government not to acquire agricultural land for commercial use has lit a ray of hope for around 110 families residing in the Vaknaghat area.
Ever since the identification of their land for acquisition for a township, the villagers had been protesting the move. These families would become landless after land acquisition.

McLeodganj Bus Stand
Construction on despite SC ban
McLeodganj, January 27
The construction work at the controversial bus stand site here is going on despite a ban imposed by the centrally empowered committee of the Supreme Court.
The state government (through chief secretary) and the district administration of Kangra (through district magistrate) had submitted an undertaking before the committee a couple of months ago that they had stopped the construction work on the controversial sites of the bus stand and the hotel-cum-parking lot.

Construction on the controversial bus stand site at McLeodganj continues despite a ban by the empowered committee of the Supreme Court.
— Photo by writer

Row Among Priests
SDM summons detail of accounts
Kangra, January 27
The controversy among two groups of priests in Bajjreshwari temple has taken a new turn with the Kangra SDM, who is looking after the temple affairs too, has sought the details of the accounts and expenditure of the share of Panchayati, figuring on the serial number 37 in the list of ' baridars' from the Pujari Sabha.

Tree Felling
Forest guard suspended
Dalhousie, January 27
After the issue of alleged illicit felling of trees in Motla forest in the Bhattiyat area of Chamba district was raised by BJP leader Gp Capt Bhupender Chauhan, the Forest Department swung into action and put a forest guard under suspension. The alleged illicit felling of around 85 trees was done for the construction of a road.

Tax benefit withdrawn from BJP states only
Solan, January 27
The manner in which the Central government has withdrawn tax benefit from non-manufacturing units located in Himachal and Uttarakhand have put a question mark on intention of the Union government.

Braveheart kills leopard
Sundernagar, January 27
Displaying immense courage, Jai Singh (44) killed a leopard that had attacked him at Ganura village of Balh Vally. Jai Singh was seriously injured in the incident. He was admitted
to the Community Health Centre, Ratti.

Attack on Gammon Engineer
Cops working on conspiracy theory
Pabati project site, January 27
The probe into the recent murder bid on vice-president of Gammon India Limited, which is executing 2,051-MW Parbati hydro project in Kullu, G. Lavilla, an Italian national, has acquired a “conspiracy angle”.

‘Make’ rights panels functional
Shimla, January 27
The Global Human Rights Council has alleged that the underprivileged sections were being denied their rights in the hill state due to failure of the government to make the statutory commissions functional.

Town planning dept told to fill posts
Shimla, January 27
Transport minister Krishan Kapoor has directed the Town and Country Planning Department to expedite process for preparing of development plans and filling the vacant posts.

Show-cause notices to owners of meat shops
Kangra, January 27
The Kangra SDM has issued show-cause notices to owners of some meat shops situated outside the Civil Hospital on the National Highway No. 88 asking them why their shops be not shifted to some other place as their present location was hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.

Shimla, January 27
Despite extreme cold conditions with the mercury hovering near the freezing point the 59th Republic Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the state.

Functions were organised at the state, district, sub-divisional and tehsil levels to mark the occasion.

Governor V.S. Kokje presided over the state-level function held at The Ridge here He unfurled the National Flag and took the salute at an impressive march-past.

The tableaux showcasing the achievements of various government departments and public sector undertakings were the main attraction of the function.

It was a special day for the cultural troupes that were invited to Raj Bhawan for lunch by Kokje. The Governor and his wife spent about two hours with them.

The Governor was later at home to the elite of Shimla at Raj Bhawan. Chief Minister Dhumal, Vidya Stokes, MLAs, DGP Ashwani Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary Parminder Mathur, HPU Vice-Chancellor Anil Wilson were among senior civil and military officers present on the occasion.

IPH minister Ravinder Singh Ravi unfurled the Tricolour at Una. The government, he said, was committed to the welfare and upliftment of women. It had announced 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions and local bodies.

Speaking at the district-level function at Hamirpur, health minister Rajiv Bindal said the government was committed to providing health services to the people at their doorsteps. He said a medical college would be soon opened in Hamirpur district in the private sector for which land had already been selected.

Presiding over the district-level function at Reckong Peo in Kinnaur horticulture minister Narender Bragta said the tribal district had made its mark in the field of horticulture. He said Rs. 1.75 crore had been spent so far under the horticulture technology mission. New root stock of apple and other fruits was being imported from other countries for distribution among farmers.

Reports of Republic Day celebrations were also received from Bilaspur, Chamba and Nahan, among others.

Dharamsala: Speaking at Dharamsala, Thakur Gulab Singh said consistent efforts of the government had compelled Rajasthan to reconsider the applications of 831 Pong Dam oustees, who had filed papers for land allotment during 1973-75. Sewerage schemes were being given top priority. Dharamsala would get augmented water supply within two years through Guj khad and Ram Nagar-Sham Nagar water supply schemes.

Kullu: Presiding over the Republic Day function at Kullu, Speaker Tulsi Ram said the government had taken several steps for prosperity and progress of its people. The state had achieved a lot in different fields of development and established its identity as a model hill state. He announced a grant of Rs 5,000 for Chandra Abha Memorial School for the blind.

Solan: Addressing the people on Republic Day, forest minister J.P.Nadda stressed the need for bringing about uniform development of the state. “We are committed to banishing all disparities and working in unison for the state’s overall development,” he declared

The BJP government, he said, was committed to ensuring that its youth got 70 per cent employment in various industrial ventures. There was a need for a qualitative development in the field of education and the proposed IIT and a central university were steps in this direction.

Nadda later honoured the panchayat pradhans of Oachghat-Nauni and Bera for bringing about total sanitation in their areas. Prizes were also given to the children from various schools who presented a cultural programme on the occasion.

Shimla, January 27
Despite the weather clearing up across the state, there was no respite from the severe cold wave today.

The minimum temperature in most parts of the state remained well below the freezing point. While Patsio in Lahaul-Spiti remain frozen at -25°C, Dhundi in Kullu was slightly better at - 5.5°C. Kalpa recorded a low of -12.6°C and high of -2.2°C. It also had 3.9-cm fresh snowfall over the past 24 hours. The road to Pooh was reopened after 18 days.

The state capital witnessed bright sunshine. The maximum temperature rose to 9°C, while the minimum remained at - 2.5°C.

Taps in many areas remained dry as water had frozen in pipes. Slippery road conditions affected traffic near Lakkar Bazar on the the Circular Road, Mashobra and Kufri.

In the lower areas of the state, Una was the coldest with a minimum of -2.7°C. Sundernagar recorded a minimum of -1.5°C and maximum of 15.6°C, while Bhuntar had a minimum of -0.2°C and maximum of 14.2°C.

According to the Met office, weather will remain dry across the state over the next 24 hours.

Solan, January 27
The decision of the newly formed BJP government not to acquire agricultural land for commercial use has lit a ray of hope for around 110 families residing in the Vaknaghat area.

Ever since the identification of their land for acquisition for a township, the villagers had been protesting the move. These families would become landless after land acquisition.

Though officials in the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) are yet to receive any directions in this regard, local people are hopeful of getting the move stalled. The proposal to grant a part of the land for an SEZ was also under consideration of the Department of Industries, but it was yet to materialise. CEO of HIMUDA S.K. Sharma said they were continuing the proceedings of land acquisition for setting up the proposed township. He said they had no knowledge of the land being granted for an SEZ.

It is worth mentioning that setting up of a satellite township for a population of around 30,000 was an ambitious project of the former Congress government. Despite announcing it soon after assuming power in 2003, it failed to execute it due to non-availability of adequate land. The government after failing to get adequate land had initiated land acquisition proceedings from the private sector.

Around 5,227 bighas have been identified for the township by the HIMUDA. Out of this, barely 1,692 bighas belonged to the government while 3,018 bighas fell under private ownership. Another 517 bighas had been set aside for IT industry.

Sensing heavy returns for their land, a number of Congress leaders had not only bought land in the Vaknaghat area, but they had been persistently pursuing the township issue.

McLeodganj, January 27
The construction work at the controversial bus stand site here is going on despite a ban imposed by the centrally empowered committee of the Supreme Court.

The workforce engaged for the construction work has also started collecting money from tourists in the name of parking fee. However, tourists are not issued any receipt for the payment. They are asked to park vehicles on the roof of the bus stand where the construction work is still in progress

The state government (through chief secretary) and the district administration of Kangra (through district magistrate) had submitted an undertaking before the committee a couple of months ago that they had stopped the construction work on the controversial sites of the bus stand and the hotel-cum-parking lot. However, when this correspondent visited the site on Sunday, the construction work on bus stand was still going on at a rapid pace.

The labourers working at the site said the contractor of the projects had asked to complete the work at a rapid pace so that it could be completed within this financial year.

It may be mentioned that a Dharamsala-based environmentalist Atul Bhardwaj and Samir Mehta of the Bombay Environment Action Group had alleged in a petition filed before the CEC of the apex court that the land allotted to a private firm on “build, operate and transfer” (BOT) basis was in gross violation of the land-use norms.

The CEC chairman visited these sites on September 27 and September 28 last year and summoned officials of five departments, along with the SDM and the executive officer of the local municipal council, directing them to stop construction work till the final decision of the case.

Petitioner in the case Atul Bhardwaj said he would file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against the chief secretary and the district magistrate for having failed to stop the construction work as per the directions of the court.

Kangra, January 27
The controversy among two groups of priests in Bajjreshwari temple has taken a new turn with the Kangra SDM, who is looking after the temple affairs too, has sought the details of the accounts and expenditure of the share of Panchayati, figuring on the serial number 37 in the list of ' baridars' from the Pujari Sabha.

SDM C. Paulrasu said the details had been sought following a complaint lodged by a section of the priests ( non-baridars).

The SDM said the sabha had claimed that 'Panchayti' was a welfare society of the priests (baridars) the money of which was being utilised for the religious and other welfare activities carried out by the priest community.

The SDM said the priests (non-baridars) have lodged a claim that two of the eight families of priests, whose names had been deleted from the list of ‘baridars’ on fake grounds and documents, be included in the list of baridars. He said action in the matter would be taken as per the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Religious Act.

Dalhousie, January 27
After the issue of alleged illicit felling of trees in Motla forest in the Bhattiyat area of Chamba district was raised by BJP leader Gp Capt Bhupender Chauhan, the Forest Department swung into action and put a forest guard under suspension. The alleged illicit felling of around 85 trees was done for the construction of a road.

Sources said further investigations had been ordered into the illicit felling. Certain new roads had been constructed without giving proper thought and trees were uprooted in connivance with officials concerned, they added.

Gp Capt Chauhan alleged havoc had been played with forests while constructing certain link roads in the name of so-called development.

Solan, January 27
The manner in which the Central government has withdrawn tax benefit from non-manufacturing units located in Himachal and Uttarakhand have put a question mark on intention of the Union government.

These benefits have been withdrawn with effect from January 18 and though four states including Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh had been granted tax exemptions under the 2003 Central Industrial Package only the BJP led states of Himachal and Uttarakhand had been made to bear the brunt of this curtailment.

The fact that these exemptions from non-manufacturing units had not been curtailed in Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim it was an obvious indication of the UPA lead government trying to create trouble only for the BJP ruled states. It is interesting to note that both Himachal and Uttarakhand had been brought under the purview of January 18 notification and both these states are ruled by the BJP. It is not a mere coincidence that though these four states were given this excise package by the former Vajpayee government the present UPA government had deliberately exempted the Congress ruled states of Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim.

It appears that the decision to curtail these benefits had been taken with an eye on the 2009 parliamentary poll since the neighbouring state of Punjab had been persistently demanding a similar industrial package. Now a tactical move had been adopted by the UPA led government for creating confrontation among the Akali-BJP led Punjab government and the BJP led government of Himachal and Uttarakhand. More so the decision had been taken right after the defeat of the Congress governments in both these states.

What matters is, however, the benefit, which the two states of Himachal and Uttarakhand would have accrued with these benefits remaining in its original forms. Political observers, however, feel such tactics would not augur well for the Congress governments even in the 2009 parliamentary poll, as it is a decision, which would have an adverse impact on the people of these two states.

Media in-charge of Himachal Pradesh BJP Rajender Rana said this reflected the discriminatory attitude of the Central government.

Sundernagar, January 27
Displaying immense courage, Jai Singh (44) killed a leopard that had attacked him at Ganura village of Balh Vally. Jai Singh was seriously injured in the incident. He was admitted
to the Community Health Centre, Ratti.

He was reportedly going to fetch water from a pond around 11.30 am when the leopard attacked him. A fight ensued between him and the wild cat. It continued for around 15 minutes with Jai Singh emerging victorious in the end. However, he was badly mauled
by the leopard.

Jai Singh’ niece was a witness to all this. She ran away from the spot and informed villagers. However, by the time villagers reached the spot, Jai Singh had already killed the leopard.

According to the DFO, Sundernagar, the body of the leopard had been taken into custody and a report lodged at the Balh police station. However, no post-mortem examination could be conducted due to holidays.

According to the field staff, nails of the leopard were found missing and a case under the Wild Life Protection Act will be lodged in this connection. A DDR entry has been made in the police record and an FIR will be registered at the instance of forest officials.

The condition of Jai Singh was stated to be out of danger. Residents of Baggi village were annoyed as no compensation had been given to the injured so far.

Pabati project site, January 27
The probe into the recent murder bid on vice-president of Gammon India Limited, which is executing 2,051-MW Parbati hydro project in Kullu, G. Lavilla, an Italian national, has acquired a “conspiracy angle”.

It seems the mastermind had been monitoring the movement of Lavilla, who is still recovering from a trauma in a Mumbai hospital.

Investigations revealed the assault on Lavilla was not sudden. It was a pre-planned attack as big money is involved. “The attack came just three days after company’s project site in charge of stage-III Rajinder Singh was transferred to Sewa in Jammu and Kashmir on January 10 by the company’s board of directors based in Mumbai.”

The police team has yet to arrest Rajinder Singh. In fact, Lavilla has allegedly named him in the FIR registered by the police under Sections 307, 342, 323 325 and 34 of the IPC.

Lavilla joined as the company’s in charge in August, 2007. Talking to The Tribune on phone from Mumbai, he said, “The driver of the car in which I was travelling stopped 3 km before the Aut traffic tunnel on January 13. He opened the door without my consent and allowed two masked men inside the car. They pointed weapon on my head and took the car inside the tunnel.”

Lavilla added, “They took me out of the car at gunpoint and stared hitting me with baseball sticks. Some more persons joined them. I could not see them as I had to lay down in my effort to protect my head. They beat me up mercilessly and went away in the car. I was almost half conscious. Later, I was taken to the Kullu hospital. I told the facts to the SP, Mandi, and the police knows everything,” he said.

On the motive behind the attack, Lavilla said, “I asked attackers why they were assaulting me, but they spoke in Hindi and in Himachali dialect which I could not understand. The driver is also hand-in-glove with them as it was he who allowed them inside
the car”.

Lavalla’s medical report showed that he broke his left arm and sustained head injuries. He refused to comment on the issue any further saying he had submitted a detailed report to the company’s board of directors in that regards.

Conspiracy theory has gained credence as the police has recovered the Maruti 800 car used in the crime. It has been reportedly traced to one Ashok Kumar, brother of an SHO posted in Mandi district.

The police has arrested three suspects - Tejasvi, Chuni Lal and Devinder - all from Kullu. They are in police remand till January 28. Chuni Lal plies a bus in Gammon stage III and relatives of other two suspects are “indirect or direct beneficiaries” of the company as they run 10 tippers in the project work.

The police has arrested Vinod Kumar, personnel officer, Gammon, stage-III. Vinod was allegedly on a forged leave the day Lavilla was attacked.

Shimla, January 27
The Global Human Rights Council has alleged that the underprivileged sections were being denied their rights in the hill state due to failure of the government to make the statutory commissions functional.

Addressing a press conference here today president of the council Arvind Thakur lamented that the government had not made any effort to revive the State Human Rights Commission which had virtually become defunct. As a result the aggrieved persons had been deprived of a statutory forum they could approach to get their due.

Not only that the State Women Commission had also not been doing enough to help those subjected to exploitation and atrocities get justice.

The free state legal authority was also not an active body as a result of which the needy were being denied free legal aid. Advocates empanelled by the authority were not taking cases on the plea that they were not being paid for the job.

Thakur also drew the attention of the government towards the exploitation of resident doctors who were forced to perform duty for 48 hours. He said the council would take up the matter with the health minister.

He said the council would organise a series of camps to create awareness among the people about their rights and the agencies they could approach to get justice.

Shimla, January 27
Transport minister Krishan Kapoor has directed the Town and Country Planning Department to expedite process for preparing of development plans and filling the vacant posts.

Reviewing the ongoing activities of the department here, he underlined the need to bring areas susceptible to ribbon development and remaining towns under the Town and Country Planning Act to check haphazard urbanisation.

He also called for a close coordination between the state housing and urban development authority and the Town And Country Planning Department for implementation of proposals for developing new townships and other projects.

Kangra, January 27
The Kangra SDM has issued show-cause notices to owners of some meat shops situated outside the Civil Hospital on the National Highway No. 88 asking them why their shops be not shifted to some other place as their present location was hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.

SDM C. Paulrasu said he had issued show-cause notices under Section 133 of the CrPC to four meat shop owners on the complaint of Swami Virendranand Giri, president of the Himachal Pradesh Sanatan Dharam Math Mandir Sureksha Samiti. The complaint was addressed to the Governor.

According to the complaint, religious sentiments of pilgrims visiting the Bajjreshwari temple were getting hurt while on way to the temple during their pilgrimage and as such these should shifted to some other place.

The shop owners have been asked to reply by February 6. If they did not reply by the due date, legal proceedings would be initiated, he added.

Swami Virendranand Giri had been demanding for a long time that Kangra and other temple towns in the state should be declared “holy towns” on the pattern of Hardwar and meat and wine shops should be shifted out of these towns.